Key holder



July 31, 1956 L. THIELLA 2,756,583

KEY HOLDER Filed April 1, 1952 //v v! 7 R LUIGH THIEL A waged 5.

United States PatentO The present invention relates to a device for fastening keys which have been put on key suspenders and to suitable key suspenders for this purpose.

The invention relates to devices of this kind, in which a longitudinal edge of a carrying plate is rolled over inwards in such a manner that it forms a rigid hollow cylinder in the shell of which there are provided, perpendicularly to the axis of the cylinder, parallel slots which extend round about a half of the shell of the cylinder and are widened at one end to form openings of large cross-section which allow the insertion of the ends, which are thickened to form heads, of key carriers on the extensions of which the keys are fastened.

The key holder according to the invention is essentially characterised by the feature, that, inside the said shallow cylinder, on the edge of the carrying plate, a cylindrical trough-shaped element (hereinafter called cylindrical troug of practically equal radius of curvature is arranged in such a manner and is rotatable by controlling means, for example by means of a lever which is rotatably arranged on the carrying plate and engages, through the cylinder, in a slot in the cylindrical trough, around the axis of the cylinder through such an angular amount, that the widened parts of the slots in the outer cylinder are either partially covered up from the inside when the cylinder trough is rotated in one direction or are completely freed when the cylindrical trough is rotated in the opposite direction.

Owing to this construction, the key suspenders, after their heads are inserted into the cylinder through the widened parts, are, owing to the displacement of the cylindrical trough, which is shifted beneath the heads and between them and the widened openings of the slots, held fast, since the widened parts of the slots are partially closed. If the cylindrical trough is rotated inside the cylinder in the opposite direction the entire cross-sectional area of the widened parts of the slots is freed and the heads of the key suspenders can be taken out of the inside of the cylinder.

In a particular embodiment of the subject matter of the invention, there are employed, as key suspenders, small chains which are fitted, at one end, to a fastening member, which consists of a stem with a spherical head and of a narrow neck and the spherical head of which can engage in the said widened parts of the slots in the hollow cylinder on the carrying plate, and, at the other end, the small chains carry a ring, the internal diameter of which is somewhat larger than that of the spherical head. In this way, the ring can, after the small chain has been passed through the opening in the handle of the key, be pushed over the spherical head, so that a fastening loop for the key is formed. Examples of embodiment of the present invention are illustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the device with the key suspenders fitted therein, a part of the arrangement being broken away;

2,756,583 Patented 31 1956 Fig. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, as seen perpendicularly to the plane of the sheet;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the back of the device;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line IVIV of Fig. 1, being completed by theTpart broken away in Fig. 1 and a key suspender of another kind;

Fig. 5 is a partial cross-section of the device in the position in which the key suspender is locked;

Fig. 6 shows, in side elevation and on a smaller scale, the device with a key suspender and a key; and

Fig. 7 shows, on a still smaller scale, a device which is fastened to the middle part of a protecting case to be carried in the pocket.

In detail, the carrying plate 1 is provided, on one of itslongitudinal edges, on the top edge as shown in the drawings, with a cylindrical rolled part 2 which has, at equal distances from one another, a number of slots 3 which widen, on the upper side, at about half the distance of the slots around the cylinder, into circular openings 4. Inside the cylinder 2, there is arranged a cylindrical trough 5 of practically equal radius of curvature which can be rotated by means of a lever arm 6, which is mounted at 7 on the carrying plate 1 and which is provided with an operating knob 8, in one direction or the other around the axis of the cylinder 2. For this purpose, the small lever 6 is, at the end remote from the knob 8, bent into a hook at 9 and extends, with its rectangularly bent end, through an arcuate slot 10 in the cylinder, the centre of the arc of this slot being at the fulcrum 7 of the lever. The bent end 9 also engages in a controlling slot 11 in the cylindrical trough 5. This slot 11, the shape of which conforms to that of a helical line, is so formed that the bent end 9 of the small lever 6 exerts on the cylindrical trough a pressure in the direction in which the small lever is moved. Since the cylindrical trough cannot be displaced axially, a rotation of the cylindrical trough about the axis of the cylinder 2 takes place, by means of which the widened openings 4 in the slots are either partially covered from the inside or are freed. When the opening 4 is completely freed, the spherical head 12 of the fastening element 13, which has a suspension stem for a small chain that carries the key, will pass through the opening 4. If the small lever 6 is turned in the direction whereby the opening 4 is partly covered owing to the rotation of the cylindrical trough 5, release of the key carrier from the cylinder is impossible. In order to release the key carrier again, the lever is rotated in the opposite direction. In order to fasten the key to the key carrier, the small chain 14 is'passed through the opening 15' in the handle of the key 15 and, in order to keep the key in a loop (Fig. 6), the ring 14 at the otherwise free end of the small chain is drawn over the spherical head 12 of the part 13.

The device described may be employed in various ways on, for example, any suitable carrier. In Fig. 7, for example, the device is represented on the middle part of a folding envelope for the pocket, which can be folded up by turning over the two side parts 17 and closed by means of the two press-button parts 18 and 19.

Various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

In a key holder; the combination of a carrying plate having a rolled edge defining a hollow cylinder, said hollow cylinder having parallel and spaced apart circumferential slots and enlarged openings with which said slots communicate so that key suspenders having enlarged heads can be extended through said openings and passed into said slots, a cylindrical trough rotatable within said hollow cylinder and formed to cover portions of said openings in one rotated position for preventing removal of the heads of the key suspenders from said openings and in another rotated position to completely free said openings, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends on said carrying plate for swinging in a plane parallel to the latter, an actuating knob on one end of said lever,'said carrying plate having an arcuate slot opening into said hollow cylinder concentric with the swinging axis of said lever, the other end of said' lever being bent laterally to extend through said arcuate slot, and said cylindrical trough having a helical slot receiving said bent end of the lever sothat swinging of the latter causes rotation of said cylindrical trough between said one and other rotate. positions thereof.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lorber Dec. 29, Buxton Aug. 15, Zahn Aug. 18, Boden Apr. 12, Harvey June 13, Geller June 3, Tarbox Aug. 16, Legat July 1, Boden et al. Oct. 14,

Sonntag Feb. 17, 

